Sponsored Content

Then there's THIS... which looks to be needle-fine, though QC may be hit or miss.

Yea that looks like a thicker version of the Jinhao 611 I had. But it's not quite needle-fine, I got a few pens that do a finer line than those (MB225, Sheaffer Touchdown with an Accounting nib, Platinum PTL-5000, Pilot Elite EF, etc). The 611 in my write sample above is about the same as what that 599 would produce. (Far as I can tell they mainly use 3 nibs on all their models, the same #5 style, plated or not, the same #6 style, plated or not, and the hooded style like in the 599 and 611, it's mainly the body that changes with each of their Jinhao or Baoer models)

I am only speaking from experience...If you want a very fine line, Japanese nibs are the way to go. I have several Chinese pens, both Hero and Picasso, all have fine nibs and all are as wide or wider than my Pelikan or Lamy 2000's in EF. I have never seen or heard of EF nibs on Chinese pens. Chinese nibs are NOT the same as Japanese! Honestly, the only true EF Chinese nib is from TWSBI...and one of the sweetest around.

I'll grant that the examples I list in my post above are not as fine as an EF Pilot or an EF or UEF Platinum. But they are much finer than the Pelikan, Lamy , or TWSBI nibs.

The TWSBI EF is not particularly fine. But it is marked EF -- is that what you're contending? If your point is that Chinese pens are not marked EF, that is true, by and large. However, it is then perhaps worth noting that the TWSBI nib is not Chinese.

I tried Hero 329 and Pilot 78G. Although they seem to have very close thin lines, I prefer Plot 78G. First of all, I found hooded nib a little clumsy to write with. Also, Hero 329 seems to be a little dry when writing fast, for example doing signatures; it feels like the ink will skip.

On the other hand, simple cap on Hero is more convenient.

And I suspect that 78G model has a nib marked as fine, not extra fine, I mean, there is room to grow.

Overall, after trying both Japanese and Chinese pens, I'd like to move to a more premium Japanese pens -- although Pilot 78G is a nice pen, it shows its simpler nature.

I tried Hero 329 and Pilot 78G. Although they seem to have very close thin lines, I prefer Plot 78G. First of all, I found hooded nib a little clumsy to write with. Also, Hero 329 seems to be a little dry when writing fast, for example doing signatures; it feels like the ink will skip.

On the other hand, simple cap on Hero is more convenient.

And I suspect that 78G model has a nib marked as fine, not extra fine, I mean, there is room to grow.

Overall, after trying both Japanese and Chinese pens, I'd like to move to a more premium Japanese pens -- although Pilot 78G is a nice pen, it shows its simpler nature.

The 78G's fine is 'marked' fine, but it's the equivalent to a western Extra-Fine. (unless you were going for a Japanese Extra-Fine, which is the Pilot Penmanship, and the nib is interchangeable with a 78G, metropolitan, etc).

You might actually like the metropolitan (aka MR, Cocoon) which has a similar nib tot the 78G (can take the same nib from a 78G), comes in either medium or fine. Metal body with a click-on cap and still relatively inexpensive (around $15 USD for the Metropolitan that takes Pilot cartridge/converter).

If you want to go up on the price a bit, there are the Pilot Vanishing Point, Pilot Falcon, and Platinum Century 3776 that can be purchased with an extra-fine (The last one even has an ultra-extra-fine available, though the falcon line is all soft nibs [some flex] with Soft Extra-Fine being available).

I recently bought a NOS Parker 17 with an XF nib that is needle-fine and a fraction of the cost of a new Sailor. Sheaffer vintage pens might offer similar options, but unlike a new pen you'd have to wait to find one.

Advertising Notice

Dearest Member or Visitor of the little Fountain Pen Nut house on the digital prairie,
Advert blocking software, such as Ad Block Plus, appears to be active. FPN relies a.o. on advertising for funding of running costs like hosting. Please be so kind to disable ad blocking for fountainpennetwork.com. If you prefer to see no adverts, support FPN by donating towards an Ads Free view, either by a monthly contribution, or a yearly contribution. Thank you very much in advance!
Warm regards, the FPN Admin Team